Dems: Obama boosting national security, helping veterans

Tuesday

Sep 18, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By JIM HADDADINjhaddadin@fosters.com

PORTSMOUTH — A Seacoast native with foreign policy expertise and a former New Hampshire Attorney General made the case Monday that President Barack Obama is the best choice for veterans in the 2012 presidential race.

Michael Breen, a former U.S. Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and former Attorney General Phil McLaughlin, discussed national security and issues affecting veterans during an appearance at the Obama campaign office in Portsmouth.

The event took place a few hours before Republican Sen. John McCain visited the city to campaign for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. The Arizona senator held four events around New Hampshire Monday aimed at rallying local veterans for the Republican presidential ticket, including one at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Deer Street. At the Portsmouth event, McCain said the president's "failure to lead" is hurting veterans and diminishing America's standing in the world.

Anticipating McCain's comments, Breen said the long-serving senator's views on national security are no longer in the "mainstream." As examples, he said McCain is pushing for the country to extend its military presence in Afghanistan, to intervene in the conflict in Syria and to threaten military engagement in Iran.

"I think if you ask most Americans, they'll agree that we've got to exhaust all possible options prior to starting another war in the Middle East, or two, or three, as John McCain would advocate — as many of Romney's advisers would advocate," Breen said.

Democrats have seized on foreign policy as an area where they believe the president will be compared favorably to his opponent. It was under Obama's watch that Osama bin Laden was killed, and the Iraq War came to a close.

On foreign policy and national security issues, Breen said the president has demonstrated "wisdom" and "strength" as commander-in-chief, capturing or killing 23 of 30 top al-Qaida commanders, and providing support in Libya that facilitated the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi, while suffering the loss of only one robotic helicopter in American casualties.

However, Obama has also been criticized by McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and others for his handling of some of aspects the turmoil in the Middle East. McCain has called on Obama to take a stronger stance against Iran regarding the development of its nuclear program, and to reaffirm the country's military and diplomatic support for Israel.

Discussing the Iranian threat, Breen said it's important to note that not even the Israelis have gone the route of laying out a so-called "red line" for Iran — a point of technological development that would trigger a military response to stop the nuclear program.

Obama's critics have also failed to articulate an alternative policy on Iran, Breen said. He called the economic sanctions already in place "the harshest sanctions in the history of the human race," and said the country's banking system is teetering on collapse.

"There's a lot going on," Breen said. "I think Iran has also been told multiple, multiple times by this president that all options, including military force, are on the table. But President Obama is not going to rush recklessly into a war with Iran. I think that's very, very smart."

McLaughlin was the state attorney general from 1997 to 2002. He served in the U.S. Navy during the late 1960s and the reserves during the early 1970s. Two of his three sons became U.S. Marines, and both were at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, he said.

McLaughlin said he was compelled to campaign for Obama because veterans haven't always had the kind of appreciation they feel now under the leadership of the president and First Lady Michelle Obama.

"She speaks so honestly and connects so well with the veterans who are coming back ," McLaughlin said. "She connects with them, and they feel a sense of support there, and it's enormously different than it has been in the past."

He also highlighted a pair of tax credits ushered in by Obama that equate to "real progress" for veterans: the "Returning Heroes" tax credit, which gives businesses up to $5,600 in return for hiring an unemployed veteran; and the "Wounded Warriors" tax credit, which provides up to $9,600 for businesses that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities.

"Those are the kinds of considerations that I think people too frequently do not associate with the Obama administration, and I think they should associate with the Obama administration," he said.

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